The primary fuel for his ample fire? The “Thugjitsu Master” was homesick.

“I don’t know if it added motivation, but training for the fight with Jeremy the first time for the October bout, I left home,” Edwards explained. “I live in Austin, Texas. My family is in Texas. My wife is in Texas. I left home in August for that. I got to Minnesota, and it didn’t happen. I went home for a week and then left again, and I’m not going to be home until tomorrow. So that was motivation enough for me to try to finish, to try to go out there and get it.”

Edwards (who trains at Florida’s American Top Team) and Stephens originally were scheduled to fight in October, but Stephens was arrested the day of the fight in Minneapolis for a charge in Iowa, and the bout was put on hold. Edwards then was quickly rebooked against John Cholish, who ultimately was forced to bow out of the matchup, which allowed Stephens to step in for a rescheduled affair at Saturday’s UFC on FOX 5 event in Seattle.

While it certainly wasn’t an ideal situation for Edwards, he said it ultimately worked out for the best, and he was able to turn his frustration into motivation.

“When Cholish got hurt and Jeremy was the replacement, I was happy because it was someone I had trained for and someone I had prepared for,” Edwards said. “I wanted to get at him. I felt like he took a lot of time away from me and my family, and it’s just kind of how I motivated myself.

“It has nothing to do with any malicious intent towards him or anything like that. It’s just I felt like I was away from the people I loved the most for a long time, and most of it was because it was his fault.”

Edwards’ first-round finish provided a much-needed win as he had previously struggled through a 1-2 stretch, and he also cashed a $65,000 bonus check for the evening’s “Knockout of the Night.” At 36 years old, it was Edwards’ 42nd career win. What comes next is anybody’s guess, but after battling through back-to-back training camps, Edwards said he still feels like he belongs in the UFC’s lightweight division.

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